KU bench picks up pace in win

Tyshawn Taylor, driving here against Iowa State, says Kansas' depth and willingness to share the scoring load among teammates is the reason the Jayhawks have put themselves in position to be ranked No. 1 when the college basketball polls come out this week.

LAWRENCE -- There’s a question that pops up every college basketball season, usually making its presence known right around this time of year in February.

And, really, it’s a pretty basic one to assess: Is a team declining or inclining as March and the NCAA Tournament approaches? There’s little doubt that figuring KU into the equation is rather easy right now. The Jayhawks have won six straight games, including an 89-66 win against Iowa State Saturday, and they’ve won five of those games by at least 20 points.

But KU’s current play comes with a disclaimer tacked onto the end.

“We’re playing the best we’ve played all year, which is a good thing,” KU coach Bill Self said. “But still, it’s not our team. That’s the thing that’s a little frustrating. We don’t have our team yet.”

For the third straight game, KU guard Josh Selby watched from the bench, sidelined with a foot injury that Self said will likely keep him out of Monday’s game at K-State. KU forward Thomas Robinson also didn’t play Saturday after having surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee this week. He’s expected to miss at least the next two weeks.

So that leaves Self plugging in guys like Jeff Withey and Elijah Johnson, guys who have played limited minutes at times this season because of KU’s logjam of talented players.

And yet, without two of their top five scorers against Iowa State on Saturday, KU kept passing, shooting and scoring like nothing changed.

Marcus and Markieff Morris each grabbed 11 rebounds. Withey and Johnson combined for 13 points in 25 minutes. And, well, the Jayhawks rolled over another conference opponent on the same day No. 1 Ohio State lost its first game of the year.

“We’ve got a lot of weapons, a lot of guys that can make shots and score,” KU guard Tyshawn Taylor said. “And I think we’re a real unselfish team so we swing the ball around a lot so everyone gets touches. Most of the shots we’re taking are pretty good shots.”

That has certainly been the case during KU’s six-game winning streak. Yet the Jayhawks have also started to actually play better the last six games, even with key players either out or banged up because of injuries.

During that six-game stretch, Brady Morningstar is averaging 11.2 points; Marcus Morris is making 68 percent of his shots; and against Missouri on Monday, Mario Little and Travis Releford combined for 27 points off the bench.

The Jayhawks played that way against Iowa State, too, as Marcus Morris scored 16 points while Taylor and Markieff Morris each added 14 to lead a balanced and efficient offensive attack.

Now Self and his team wait to return to full strength.

“When Josh will be able to go and when Thomas will be able to come back,” Self said, “I just hope that that they both get back to full speed a couple of weeks prior to the postseason, so that way we can be in rhythm. Having a guy come back and practice two days or three days before you have to win a game, that doesn’t do anything. You’ve got to be in rhythm, you’ve got to have confidence in your rotation. And our rotation is pretty good right now.”

The return of Selby and Robinson won’t hurt KU, of course. But it will add another dimension to a team that is simply playing well at the moment.

“That could disrupt our rotation,” Self said. “I certainly like how we’re playing, but I don’t want the injuries and when they come back to take away from the way we’re playing right now. That may be a little bit of a challenge, because those guys need minutes. They need to get in a game, they need confidence and some momentum moving forward but not at the risk of not playing as well.”

SELF ON SELBY

Self said Selby was most likely out for Monday’s game against K-State, and he also talked about the nature of the foot injury that has sidelined his freshman guard the last three games.

“A lot of it is between the ears too,” Self said. “It’s not going to feel good. He’s very tender. He’s sore. But he’s not as injured as what it feels. It feels like it’s really injured. He has a severely, let’s just say, sprained ankle. It hurts to walk on it. But you’ve got to somehow fight through that a little bit. I’m not going to put him out there if he doesn’t feel like he can do it.”

BILL BRADLEY IN ATTENDANCE

NBA Hall of Famer and former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley attended KU’s game against Iowa State, and he also stopped in Allen Fieldhouse to talk to the Jayhawks earlier in the day.

“He came to our walkthrough this morning and then he spoke to our team for about 15 minutes and was great,” Self said. “He sounded like he had done it before. He was so smooth, and his message was really right on. ... I think he had our guys sitting on the edge of their chairs without question.”